Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

[Gonzo]

Why do you think they reached out? Was it just out of nowhere? The Big 10 had nothing to do with it?

I have no clue who initiated it, whether it was the conference, FOX, the schools. All that was reported was that the schools reached out, but them quietly being coaxed by FOX to do so is pretty believable. And the "why" isn't that hard to figure out... the PAC was in the midst of a complete clusterfuk of media negotiations and a couple of bluebloods didn't like the idea of falling behind the rest of the country by tens of millions of dollars annually.

 

[ClubCy]

Yeah, when their commish and conference **** the bed and couldn’t produce a media deal that’s exactly what happened. It’s been documented, the pac12 was the most incompetent conference in the country. They went running for the exit at the first opportunity

 

[SCNCY]

Except the LA schools did all the initiating, they knew there wasn’t a deal that was going to materialize and they reached out. Same for the PNW schools once things were falling apart.

I thought USC and UCLA reached out to the Big10 after the SEC reached out to them; due to their preference to being aligned with the Big10 as opposed to the SEC?

I always assumed that during the SEC's negotiations that they approached Texas, OU, USC, and UCLA in joining. Texas and OU obviously wanted the SEC, but USC and UCLA used the opportunity as leverage for the Big10 to see if they were interested.

I believe this is what you have said previously.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

I thought USC and UCLA reached out to the Big10 after the SEC reached out to them; due to their preference to being aligned with the Big10 as opposed to the SEC?

I always assumed that during the SEC's negotiations that they approached Texas, OU, USC, and UCLA in joining. Texas and OU obviously wanted the SEC, but USC and UCLA used the opportunity as leverage for the Big10 to see if they were interested.

I believe this is what you have said previously.

I know they reached out to the big ten first and it was believed that they would go to the SEC if the big ten didn’t take them. I don’t know about any SEC and LA schools conversations before that, just know that the thought was they would go there if the big ten passed. They wanted out from the dumpster fire that was the PAC, which once everything came to light makes a lot of sense

 

[cyfanatic]

I know they reached out to the big ten first and it was believed that they would go to the SEC if the big ten didn’t take them. They wanted out from the dumpster fire that was the PAC.

And wasn't it USC that took that position on its own which caught even UCLA by surprise? I thought it was the USC president that entered a conference meeting and basically said "it would be a waste of time for USC to be involved in saving the Pac 12 because we are leaving" (paraphrase).

 

[FriendlySpartan]

And wasn't it USC that took that position on its own which caught even UCLA by surprise? I thought it was the USC president that entered a conference meeting and basically said "it would be a waste of time for USC to be involved in saving the Pac 12 because we are leaving" (paraphrase).

I don’t know about the second part because the announcement caught everyone by surprise including the PAC commish and fellow AD’s so I don’t think that happened. It’s been reported that USC led the push with UCLA coming along due to the number of USC alums in high level positions at Fox. Part of the reason things moved fast in addition to it being a no brainer for all parties.

 

[Cloneon]

Except the LA schools did all the initiating, they knew there wasn’t a deal that was going to materialize and they reached out. Same for the PNW schools once things were falling apart.

That's what they'd like you to believe. But, the contract the B1G received was prior to that announcement and, as such, served to entice the move. These pieces are being moved by higher powers. Even higher than the SEC or B1G. Consider why other P12 members didn't have the same idea. Nope. UCLA/USC were enticed behind the scenes.

 

[Cloneon]

I have no clue who initiated it, whether it was the conference, FOX, the schools. All that was reported was that the schools reached out, but them quietly being coaxed by FOX to do so is pretty believable. And the "why" isn't that hard to figure out... the PAC was in the midst of a complete clusterfuk of media negotiations and a couple of bluebloods didn't like the idea of falling behind the rest of the country by tens of millions of dollars annually.

The odds of it not being a coordinated effort are significant.

 

[Al_4_State]

I'm not saying it's not driven by greed or that Delany wasn't out front after the ACC raided the Big East. But I'd hope every major conference commish would've been smart enough to see what happened with the ACC and Big East and realized where things were headed. The Big East never rebuilt in terms of CFB, its football presence was dead after that.

It was headed there because of their actions. They had the power to stop this.

None of this was inevitable.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

That's what they'd like you to believe. But, the contract the B1G received was prior to that announcement and, as such, served to entice the move. These pieces are being moved by higher powers. Even higher than the SEC or B1G. Consider why other P12 members didn't have the same idea. Nope. UCLA/USC were enticed behind the scenes.

You realize that the LA schools can approach first and there can still be a contract prior to the announcement right? This has been pretty throughly covered and stated that the LA schools were reaching out to other conferences on their own. The other pac schools didn’t have the same idea because as shown and repeated ad nausem on this board that they don’t have the value.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

That's what they'd like you to believe. But, the contract the B1G received was prior to that announcement and, as such, served to entice the move. These pieces are being moved by higher powers. Even higher than the SEC or B1G. Consider why other P12 members didn't have the same idea. Nope. UCLA/USC were enticed behind the scenes.

The higher powers endorsed the LA schools to the B1G, but USC definitely kicked that direction off. Its what killed any ISU chance at the B1G. It isn't a coincidence that not long after ISU dropped AAU status.

 

[exCyDing]

The ACC started it all back in the early 2000s by raiding and essentially destroying the Big East. All the Big 10 had done at that point was added PSU, an independent.

I don't know that the Big 10 has ever been at the point of survival. My only point is that the Big 12, even before OuT happened and the conference was in a state of survival, would've done the exact same thing the Big 10 did if USC and UCLA had reached out.

I think the catalyst was really independents started to join conferences. Between 1990 and 1992, Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, West Virginia, and Virginia Tech all joined the Big East. The ACC added Miami and Pitt in 1991. The SEC added South Carolina (and grabbed Arkansas from the SWC) in 1992. The B10 added Penn St in 1993.

That left the Big 8 as "small" conference, and the SWC as both small and geographically limited (Arkansas had been the only member outside of Texas), to say nothing of their, ahem, colorful history. The obvious solution was for Texas, ATM, TT and TCU Baylor to join up with the Big 8 and be on par with the other conferences.

Round 2 was kicked off by the B10 building their own network (after the B12 passed because Texa$ wanted one for themselves, or with just ATM and maybe OU), and saw in influx of cash. Then Nebraska got mad that one program (Texas) was getting more money than than the other three programs (NE, ATM, OU) that were supposed to get more money than everyone else (the other 8 B12 members). Never mind who insisted on unequal revenue distributions to start with.

 

[cyfanatic]

The higher powers endorsed the LA schools to the B1G, but USC definitely kicked that direction off. Its what killed any ISU chance at the B1G. It isn't a coincidence that not long after ISU dropped AAU status.

OR...USC might have unintentionally saved ISU being in a decent league. Had the USC president not put a halt to Pac12 expansion hopes prior to Big 12 expansion...we might have been left out! Not sure who the Pac12 was looking to take from the Big12 but that is what was happening just after OUT bailed. Maybe we would have been invited but it was no sure thing.

 

[Die4Cy]

These Big Ten puds in here be like:

It must be exhausting to have to be this obtuse all the time.

 

[ClubCy]

OR...USC might have unintentionally saved ISU being in a decent league. Had the USC president not put a halt to Pac12 expansion hopes prior to Big 12 expansion...we might have been left out! Not sure who the Pac12 was looking to take from the Big12 but that is what was happening just after OUT bailed. Maybe we would have been invited but it was no sure thing.

This is more likely than Iowa state ever being in the Big 10. Pac would have taken OSU,Tech, Kansas?, and Baylor/TCU?

Leaving Iowa State and K State in the wind.

 

[SolterraCyclone]

I think the catalyst was really independents started to join conferences. Between 1990 and 1992, Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, West Virginia, and Virginia Tech all joined the Big East. The ACC added Miami and Pitt in 1991. The SEC added South Carolina (and grabbed Arkansas from the SWC) in 1992. The B10 added Penn St in 1993.

That left the Big 8 as "small" conference, and the SWC as both small and geographically limited (Arkansas had been the only member outside of Texas), to say nothing of their, ahem, colorful history. The obvious solution was for Texas, ATM, TT and TCU Baylor to join up with the Big 8 and be on par with the other conferences.

Round 2 was kicked off by the B10 building their own network (after the B12 passed because Texa$ wanted one for themselves, or with just ATM and maybe OU), and saw in influx of cash. Then Nebraska got mad that one program (Texas) was getting more money than than the other three programs (NE, ATM, OU) that were supposed to get more money than everyone else (the other 8 B12 members). Never mind who insisted on unequal revenue distributions to start with.

The real catalyst was the 1984 Supreme Court ruling that NCAA members owned their own media rights.

Up to that point, conferences were moreso regional alliances used primarily for scheduling. They all fell under the purview of the NCAA. After that ruling, conferences became their own entities and primarily negotiated TV deals on their members’ behalf. That’s when they gained a lot more power (especially after the CFA died in the mid-90s) and consolidation started to occur

 

[FriendlySpartan]

The real catalyst was the 1984 Supreme Court ruling that NCAA members owned their own media rights.

Up to that point, conferences were moreso regional alliances used primarily for scheduling. They all fell under the purview of the NCAA. After that ruling, conferences became their own entities and primarily negotiated TV deals on their members’ behalf. That’s when they gained a lot more power (especially after the CFA died in the mid-90s) and consolidation started to occur

Huh, learned something new today, had no idea that was a thing

 

[Gonzo]

I think the catalyst was really independents started to join conferences. Between 1990 and 1992, Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, West Virginia, and Virginia Tech all joined the Big East. The ACC added Miami and Pitt in 1991. The SEC added South Carolina (and grabbed Arkansas from the SWC) in 1992. The B10 added Penn St in 1993.

That left the Big 8 as "small" conference, and the SWC as both small and geographically limited (Arkansas had been the only member outside of Texas), to say nothing of their, ahem, colorful history. The obvious solution was for Texas, ATM, TT and TCU Baylor to join up with the Big 8 and be on par with the other conferences.

Round 2 was kicked off by the B10 building their own network (after the B12 passed because Texa$ wanted one for themselves, or with just ATM and maybe OU), and saw in influx of cash. Then Nebraska got mad that one program (Texas) was getting more money than than the other three programs (NE, ATM, OU) that were supposed to get more money than everyone else (the other 8 B12 members). Never mind who insisted on unequal revenue distributions to start with.

And we can blame the arrogance of Mark Shapiro and ESPN for the creation of the Big Ten Network.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

This is more likely than Iowa state ever being in the Big 10. Pac would have taken OSU,Tech, Kansas?, and Baylor/TCU?

Leaving Iowa State and K State in the wind.

The PAC would have never taken TCU or Baylor.

ISU and KU to the B1G was a real possibility before USC lifted its skirt.

 

[ClubCy]

The PAC would have never taken TCU or Baylor.

ISU and KU to the B1G was a real possibility before USC lifted its skirt.

Do you have…proof?

If there was a possibility we would be in the Big 10 and the expansion of the g5 schools would have never been signed off by KU or ISU. Pretty sure there was an reputable article written that we for sure reached out and got a “thanks but no thanks”